Test Detects TB in HIV Patients

A recent study has confirmed that a new test is able to detect tuberculosis (TB) in HIV patients whose immune systems are severely compromised.

Oxford Immunotec (Abingdon, UK) announced that the study, which was performed at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital (London, UK), showed that the company's T-Spot.TB test is able to detect TB in HIV patients, even when their CD4 T cell count is less than 200 cells/µl. The study also confirmed the ability of the T-Spot.TB to be used as a "rule-out” test for TB in HIV patients. The results of the study were presented at the annual meeting of the British HIV Association in Brighton (UK) in March 2006.

T-Spot is a simple, accurate method of studying a person's cellular immune response to infection, and can be applied to monitor any major disease involving a T cell response. T-Spot.TB is the first test from Oxford Immunotec using T-Spot technology. An in vitro T cell measurement assay, it diagnoses TB disease and latent TB infection. Incorporating a positive control, the T-Spot.TB test enables the user to distinguish a genuine negative result from an inconclusive one that is the result of a technical failure.

T-Spot.TB is approved for sale in Europe and is designed to replace the 115-year old tuberculin skin test.



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Oxford Immunotec
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital